Pterosaurs, Thunderbirds, and Pyncofibers

I recently reread the wonderful book Big Bird! Modern Sightings of Flying Monsters by Ken Gerhard and it sparked an interesting question in my mind; if, as we suspect according to paleontology, pterosaurs had pyncofibers (similar to a cross between feathers and fur) on their bodies, why do we not get more reports of anomalous birds and flying reptiles with such structures?
From what I can tell, there is no evolutionary reason for pyncofibers to have been lost through time. They would have simply improved over time.

This leaves us with a couple possibilities;

First, maybe the sightings aren't of pterosaurs. This is quite a likely possibility, animals flying through the sky can distort their appearance and maybe make them look like something one would described as pterosaurs. Places where most Thunderbird sightings occur, do have their own fair share of known large birds, Texas is an excellent example.

Second, maybe the creatures are zooforms. This is a possibility which is gaining more attention and support. Physical animals of that size remaining hidden, especially ones that fly, for so long in populated areas are extremely unlikely. Non-physical apparitions seems slightly more likely.

Thirdly, maybe what people are seeing actually are pterosaurs and I am completely wrong.

Let me know in the comments what you think!

Thunderbirds

Thunderbirds, birds of enormous size from Native American legends, were said to cause thunder and lightning just by flapping their huge wings. Could birds of this size really exist? Some researchers believe that they aren’t just legend, and that they still occupy the skies of America. Sightings have occurred throughout the United States but the majority are clustered within the Midwest.

In legends, the birds were described to be big enough to blot out the sun, but in modern times the size is described as having a wingspan between fifteen and thirty-five feet. The creature is often described as a giant bird, black in color, occasionally with a white stripe around its neck. Although most encounters fall into the above description there are some reports that give the Thunderbird a more reptilian description, similar to a pterodactyl.

There are very few reports of a Thunderbird actually interacting with a person, most are only seen in the sky from a distance. There is one exception to this, dubbed the Lawndale Incident by researchers, the witnesses actually claim a bird of gigantic proportions actually picked up a ten-year-old child and carried him for a short distance. The encounter occurred on July 15, 1977, at a family home in Lawndale, Illinois. Marlon Lowe was playing outside his home, when two large birds flew above him. One of the birds flew down to Marlon and grabbed him in its talons and carried him for several feet before letting go and flying away. The birds seemed to be frightened of, ironically, by Mrs. Lowe’s horrified screams. The birds were described as being as large as ostriches but appeared more like condors. The most significant part of the encounter is that condors are not strong enough to lift a child into the air and fly even the few feet that it did.

Since most descriptions associate condors with the Thunderbird, the most likely candidate for the Thunderbird are the extinct Teratorns. There are two known types of Teratorns, the Teratornis merriami which had a wingspan of eleven feet and the Teratornis incredibilis which had a wingspan of twenty four feet. The other likely candidate for the Thunderbird is a relict species of pterosaur, an extinct group of flying reptiles. The pterosaur theory works mainly because of the handful of sightings of reptilian Thunderbirds as well as the newly discovery of feathers on pterosaurs and other prehistoric reptiles.

So could large unknown birds roam the skies of midwest United States? What do you guys think?

Sources

Mysterious America by Loren Coleman

Cryptozoology A to Z by Loren Coleman and Jerome Clark

The Encyclopedia of Monsters by Daniel Cohen

Monster Spotter’s Guide to North America by Scott Francis

Unexplained! by Jerome Clark